1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle console with an adjustable armrest, wherein the armrest performs as a lid for opening and closing a storage well of a console box and the armrest can slide in the fore-and-aft direction of the console to adjust the position of the armrest to individual vehicle drivers. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle console with an adjustable armrest, which can be handled by a single operation knob disposed at the fore-end of the armrest.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 2003-237476 discloses a console box comprising a main body of the console box, a lid hinged to the main body and adapted to slide in the fore-and-aft direction of a vehicle, a lid-opening knob disposed at the fore-end of the lid, and a lid-sliding knob disposed under the lid-opening knob.
A base member is hinged to the box body of the console box and the lid is slidably attached to the base member. The console box has a first and second locking devices and a first and second unlocking devices corresponding to the first and second locking devices. The first locking device prevents the base member from rotating with respect to the box body when locked and allows the base member to rotate when unlocked. The second locking device prevents the lid from sliding with respect to the base member when locked and allows the lid to slide in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle when unlocked. The first unlocking device is a device for unlocking the first locking device. The second unlocking device is a device for unlocking the second locking device. The first unlocking device is adapted to release the first locking device by pulling the lid-opening knob upwardly. The second unlocking device is adapted to release the second locking device by pulling the lid-sliding knob upwardly.
The first locking device of the above-mentioned console box consists of a pawl member and a catch member for engaging with the pawl member. The pawl member is rotatively attached to the base member. The catch member is disposed in the fore-end of the box body or in the vicinity thereof and is arranged on the upper end of the box body or in the vicinity thereof. The catch member lies anterior to the storage well of the box body. Since the first locking device is located at the fore-end of the base member, the base member extends over the entire length of the box body and the storage well from the pivotal axis of the first locking device to the fore-end of the box body. As a result, the base member becomes large in size and the volume of the dead space between the base member and the lid increases.
In addition, the above-mentioned console box is composed of number of components and complexified in structure, because the console box is provided with the first locking device, the first unlocking device, the second locking device and the second unlocking device, individually.
In the above-mentioned console box, furthermore, the catch member for engaging with the pawl member has to be formed in a part of the box body in order to engage with the pawl member of the first locking device. The catch member is revealed outside when the lid is open, so that the appearance of the console box might be impaired.